Les Miserables – Great Job, CYT!

This afternoon I got a call from Roger Castro offering two tickets to the 3:00 showing of CYT's Les Miserables. This would be the final performance in the two week run. I was so excited that I completely forgot the reason I had not bought tickets ahead of time . . . Tiffany can still bear no weight on her injured foot, and would have a hard time getting into the theater. I remembered this as we were trying to get her into the van, but decided to give it a go, anyway. We shuttled Alex to Grandma Kennedy's house and headed to the theater.

Boy was I thankful for that call from Roger! I knew Les Mis was going to be impressive. I had seen some rehearsal videos showcasing some very impressive vocal work. I knew that Luanne was going to pull off a great musical feat, and that Laura, Terri, and Roger were going to play their hearts out. Still, the show had a few hurdles to overcome, and I was curious to see how they played out. In fact, months ago, I had wondered whether CYT had bitten off more than they could chew with this show. Of course, this incredible group not only pulled it off . . . they nailed it!

This is the most serious show I believe CYT has ever done. Their shows are generally lighthearted and always abound with humor. Many of the actors are very good at injecting humor into an otherwise ho-hum scene. This is the first show CYT has done in which humor is not only lacking – it would be irreverent and distasteful. This may be the first CYT show to draw a large number of tears.

This show had continuous music. In all past shows, the music has started, the actors have sung, then the music has stopped. Dialogue between songs is delivered without music. One of the most difficult things about putting these shows together (from my musician's point of view) is keeping the actors with the music and the music with the actors. Hitting the cues and listening to each other is extremely important, and it seems like there is never enough rehearsal time with the orchestra and the cast together to really work out every cue. Because of the continuous music in Les Miserables, I was very nervous about the cast and the orchestra staying together.

Finally, recent CYT press has been less than flattering. CYT has undertaken a great challenge in staging Les Mis, and has obviously worked hard to make it a successful show. However, all the buzz surrounding CYT lately seems to have centered on their recently announced financial woes. The Columbian recently printed an article on CYT, and instead of talking about this latest artistic undertaking, they wrote mostly about the group's finances. I had to wonder how these obviously troubling times might manifest themselves onstage.

Upon arrival, it was a little difficult getting Tiffany and her electric scooter situated in the sold-out theater; we had to exchange tickets twice, and caused a rearrangement of some of the show's sound and recording equipment. While we were waiting to be seated, Tiffany commented that it is a good thing this is a Christian production . . . everyone is extremely polite and helpful. Although fitting us into the packed house caused quite some rearranging on the part of the House Crew, we never got so much as a cross look from any of the Ushers.

Soon after being seated, the curtain warmer began, and any lingering doubt I may have had about this show vaporized immediately. The show began with an extremely powerful and touching Prologue; this was highlighted by a strong opening number featuring the two lead Tenors, Nathan Robe and Casey Pitel, as archrivals Jean Valjean and Javert, followed by a powerful solo performance of What Have I Done by Nathan. The story had been rooted; more importantly, the bar had just been set extremely high for the rest of the show.

Although the entire show was outstanding, with excellent performances by the entire cast, there were a few performances that stand out and cannot go unmentioned.

Nathan Robe delivered a remarkable vocal performance as Jean Valjean. Nathan has an incredible voice, and this show offered him the opportunity to shine. He did some outstanding solo and ensemble work, but the pinnacle of his performance came in the second act when he showed us the extent of his range with Bring Him Home.

Caleb Adderley was masterfully cast as Thernardier and, along with Lina Rodriguez as Madame Thernardier, delivered just the right amount of levity to an otherwise heavy show. Caleb's impromptu sense of humor has stolen CYT's stage on many occasions, injecting bucketfuls of humor into characters that, played by anyone else, may have been bland and boring. Most recently, he was able to turn The Wizard of Oz's Professor Marvel into an entertaining sideshow, and was even able to pull in a few laughs as the Wizard himself. As the bumbling innkeepers in Les Mis, Caleb and Lina were able to strike a very good balance . . . they were able to lighten the atmosphere nearly every time they came onstage – most notably during their introductory number, Master of the House – but they never went so far as to completely break the dark emotional atmosphere of the show.

Calvin Whitney, playing the children's leader Gavroche, delivered an outstanding performance for a boy his age. His acting was great. My only complaint was that his number Little People was not very long . . . perhaps it had been shortened for timing reasons? When I think of Les Mis, I think of Little People. To me, this is the most recognizable song in the show. I was disappointed that there was not more of it.

The orchestra did an outstanding job. It was a rather large orchestra, and as I mentioned, it played without stopping. It could have very easily overpowered the actors, but it did not. The oboe underscored some of the most powerful onstage moments very nicely. Whether it was due to a great performance by Michael Maher, or an arrangement with powerful oboe lines, or (most likely) some combination of both, I do believe that if there was not a dry eye in the house, it was in large part due to the oboe. Also, I would like to thank the orchestra for putting up with the rapid-fire key changes – it seems that three lines were never delivered in the same key during this show, and yet, the key changes greatly enhanced the strong emotional tensions.

I could go on and on . . . Kaity Jellison as Cosette and Rachel Warren as Eponine (incredibly emotional deliveries of musical numbers), Casey Pitel as Javert (gosh . . . the only reason this performance didn't stand out more is that his performances ALWAYS stand out – his Wizard of Oz Lion is a really hard act to beat, and I still chuckle when I think that 'the sparrows will take wiiing'!) . . . and all the rest.

In addition, I was impressed with the excellent delivery of the numerous recitative passages.  This is a type of delivery that is fairly new to CYT, and yet a large number of cast members had recitative lines in this show that they pulled off without a hitch!

BRAVO to the entire CYT cast and crew . . . despite the hurdles that had to be overcome, this show will go down as one of the best yet!